INTERVIEW: Jared Throne

WEBVTT

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This October, Oni Press and Spectrevision are proud to present High Strangeness, a startling new five-part experiment in comic book storytelling.

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Inspired by firsthand accounts of real paranormal encounters within the dimly lit borderlands of human experience, each 40-page prestige format chapter of High Strangeness will interrogate overlapping phenomena like UFOs, hauntings, cryptic sightings, and inexplicable synchronicities that together seem to indicate a higher unseen order of reality.

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Teaming Spectrevision co-founder and real-life experiencer Daniel Noah with an otherworldly cast of comic talents, including Christopher Cantwell, Cecil Castellucci, good friend to the show Christian Ward, and more, High Strangest Book One arrives on October 8th investigate a 1967 encounter with the strange beings known as the Men in Black, with superstar writer Chris Condon, Ringo Award-winning artist Dave Chisholm, and cover artist Jock.

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Look for High Strangest Book 1 on shelves October 8th at a local comic shop near you.

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Only from Oni Press.

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Hey, this is Jared Throne, the creator of Bridge Planet Nine from Top Shelf, and you are listening to the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast with your host, Chris Hacker and Aaron Norris.

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Joining me today is the creator of the upcoming sci-fi heist graphic novel, Bridge Planet 9, which tells the tale of four down and out thieves on an abandoned colony planet looking for an easy steal until the planet's dark secrets flip this simple job into a bloody fight for survival.

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It is my pleasure to welcome Jared Throne onto the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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eh Jared, thank you so much for joining us here.

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I appreciate it, man.

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It's great to have you here.

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And I know it's I especially appreciate it because You just got back from SBX, Small Press Expo out there in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Yeah.

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It's pretty much like the Mecca for, I would say, like indie creators.

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I've always wanted to go.

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Unfortunately, I'm stuck here in the Midwest, so I haven't been able to get out there quite yet.

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But I'm just curious, what was that experience like for you out there this year?

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And then how was it tabling for Top Shelf for the first time there as one of their talents?

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It was great.

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It was really great.

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mean, one of the best years I've had at SPX, got to see my new book for that was the first time I actually got to see it in print.

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So that was really rad.

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It sold out, which was crazy.

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Was not expecting that.

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It was cool being at the top shelf table, having a little bit more of a sense of community, you know, a few people there.

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got to hang out with like Ricky Leem and Ben Wickley and some other guys working on their books and pushing their stuff too, which was fun.

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And of course the top shelf staff and all that.

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But yeah, SPX is fantastic.

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You definitely got to.

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gotta go out.

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I've been three or four times and even when I don't get a table, just go because I mean, I'm pretty close by too, luckily enough, but I was going to ask a question was like, you based out of the East coast there?

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I'm in Richmond, Virginia, so it's like a two hour drive.

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So I've gone up for the day before in previous years and stuff like that too, but yeah, it's awesome.

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Yeah, so I'm curious, know, being that it's like sort of a small press, sort of a indie creator centric con is Top Shelf, you know, Top Shelf one of the like the bigger publishers there.

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Is that sort of how it goes or is there anyone bigger than that even?

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I think they, mean, it is relative, you're right.

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Like it's, it's obviously small press, but I think they are.

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mean, John and quarterly was there this year.

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Shana graphics was there, silver sprocket.

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So a lot of the people putting out graphic novels and you know, kind of top talent indie stuff are all there.

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uh Plus you've got like Nate Powell and all those guys are showing up.

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it's a good mix, but I do like SBX because they do like, I believe the table system is pretty much a lottery.

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mean, I'm sure obviously they asked people to come, but it does also bring in a lot of people who like haven't done almost anything before.

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So it's really fun to walk around and see, you know, somebody who's got like six books next to somebody who's just pushing little zines and you're like, I think that kid might pull up.

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uh So it's a lot of fun.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, that kind of reminds me of a moment that I had at New York Comic Con, I think it was like in like 2019.

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I was just sort of browsing around the earlier part of the floor show opening and all that.

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it's mostly, I'm sure you've probably been there in the earlier parts where like it's barely, Alley is pretty much empty.

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And I'm walking through and I see this one gentleman got like two books on his table.

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He's sitting there sketching away very quietly.

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And I was just like kind of blown away by his work.

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I sat there and chatted with him and he didn't really seem like he, not that I don't think he didn't, he wasn't being rude, but he didn't really seem like he was like wanting to have a conversation.

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It seemed like he was there to do some commissions or maybe just sort of have a breath before the wildness of New York Comic-Con.

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So I sort of tried to respect that, but it was, I remember thinking at that moment like, man, he's going to be huge.

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I don't know if you've heard of this artist, but it was Matt Lesniewski who is just like, I would say like the Picasso of comic art.

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He has an incredibly sort of unique style.

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And I remember thinking that moment in a very similar way that you were saying there at SBX that like, you see someone's work, you're like, wow, they're going to be someone someday.

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And I'm sure people thought that about you as well, walking up to your, know, your tabling there.

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Maybe, maybe, That sort of brings me to my next question here, which, you know, I saw your haul there on Instagram of all the work that you picked up from other creators and such.

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Was there anyone or is there anyone immediately that comes to mind?

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that you found for the first time there at the show and were just like really impressed by.

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Oh man, that I found for the first time?

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I'm looking through my little stack over here that I got.

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I'll pull some stuff out.

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I don't know about this first.

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You don't have to limit it to first time.

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If there was just anyone you were blown away by.

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uh Wren MacDonald was there.

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He a lot of Rhysagraph stuff.

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He's really great.

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um This is a Richmond guy.

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I'm gonna say his name wrong.

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He's gonna hate me for it.

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But it's I think it's Howden Freely.

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He's really great.

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I like his stuff a lot.

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He goes to all the local Richmond shows too.

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And I did get the Jesse.

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You're interviewing this guy soon, I think.

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Yeah, yeah.

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I got his little mini comic and I was stuck.

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I had never met him before.

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Jesse's the best, yeah.

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We are talking to him later in October.

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yeah, or no, sorry, I apologize.

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You're in about a week.

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I got my calendar all mixed up.

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But yeah, we're talking about And yeah, one of the best, right?

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Like Jesse is just, I think for a long time, of very similar to we're talking about.

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Sort of, you could go to a con and he'd have maybe one, maybe two people at his booth.

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But when you walk up and see his stuff, it's just, it's unlike anybody else there at the convention.

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Yeah, he was a super nice guy too.

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I didn't know he was going to be there, but I had seen his most recent book getting posted quite a bit online.

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So I saw him and we chatted for a bit.

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uh yeah, it's always fun to grab little zines and mini comics from guys like that too, where you know they're putting out some really cool books and they're just making this stuff, you know, just for these little tiny shows.

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Yeah.

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Well, you know, I'd love that for, you know, this is a good chance for our listeners to sort of get to know you a little bit because you are still kind of, I would say earlier on in your career.

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Oh, sure.

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And of course I say that respectfully, like you're you've done work, you know, but you're a hundred.

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But I want to get into that a little bit before we get into the part of the reason why you're actually here, which is for Bridge Planet Nine.

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You know, your background includes working in design, which if folks have seen your work, you know, whether it be on social media or on your website, et cetera.

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it's almost apparent that you've worked in design before.

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You've got a very particular style, I think.

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shows this professionalism that I think is almost, it's immediate, right?

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You're also a musician as well, from what I understand.

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So you clearly, you're man of many talents, but it seems that comics has gotten a lot of your central focus here recently.

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So I'd love to hear you talk a little bit about why you want to tell stories sequentially, and also what is sort of your history with comics?

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Sure.

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I love design, but it is my day job and it's, you you're always working for other people, which I think does teach you a lot of valuable lessons creatively and pushes you a lot.

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And then music I love, but it's always been kind of like, I just don't feel like I'm ever going to be a rock star or anything.

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Music is very therapeutic for me.

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It's very personal and a lot of writing autobiographical songs and like that.

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So comics have just always been the winner for me.

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And I do think I...

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I've had people say I'm like very creatively productive.

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Like I do a lot and I make a lot.

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That doesn't mean all of it's good all the time, but there is a lot of it.

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Yeah.

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Comics to me have always just captured me more than anything else.

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mean, I grew up reading Spider-Man comics, old Spider-Mans.

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I got a copy over here of like essential Spider-Man books.

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I don't know if you ever read any of those books, but they're like black and white newsprint.

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My first comic ever was an Avengers Essentials collection that my librarian got me.

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yeah, sort of similar origin story there, yeah.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And it's funny because, you know, all those comics are obviously from the 60s and 70s and stuff, but I felt like I was like, looking back, I was like, man, I was the target audience for this, little eight, nine year old kid trying to have an adventure in a book.

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um So it stuck with me.

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But yeah, I've been reading comics ever since, you know, I got obviously tons of stuff like everybody else.

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And but in terms of making comics, it was always off and on.

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I didn't really trust my art skills.

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And, you know, I drew.

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When was younger, then I kind of stopped drawing as much and I tried to write some and work with other artists and I just felt like it wasn't getting there.

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And eventually I was like, I'm gonna really, you know, harbor down on trying to learn art and get better at illustration and get to a point where I feel like I can make books.

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so it's just, it's been years of doing that and working and practicing and getting to this point.

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So that's not the most exciting story.

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It's probably what a lot of people say, but yeah.

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Well, no, mean, it definitely tells sort of a larger story.

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And I think what really struck me about what you just said there is, and it brought up this idea of, you know, obviously you've been doing, as you said, design as your normal day to day.

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And there's a process that goes along with that to create a design for whether it be for businesses or for like a podcast.

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Like Aaron and I, recently got a brand new brand design for the Oblivion Bar where we went for sort of this like, I would say sort of synthy.

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late 80s, early 90s, you know, sort of, would even say like a hint of horror, know, like a synthwave type of feel.

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it's, it's important.

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Oh, thank you.

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We love it as well.

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It's very much speaks to what we love in terms of movies and comics and television and music and all of that.

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Right.

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Even up down to our music, which we had done by dream kid.

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And again, it's, it's all the, it sort of speaks to this larger identity, right.

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And, and you have to deal with that a lot with design.

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And I'm just curious when you're sort of going through that process in terms of designing a project, which again, as you said, is sort of your day job.

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And then over here, a creative venture and telling stories sequentially, are there some lessons you had to learn?

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You said you had to sort of learn how to tell stories sequentially.

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Can you speak a little bit more about what your process, how did you go about that?

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Right?

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What are some of the major differences when it goes through?

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I have this project here with designing.

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I have this project that I want to do creatively with comics.

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What are those lessons that you had to learn?

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Yeah, I think so I work in branding and brand standards more than anything else.

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So that's definitely the bread and butter for me for the most part.

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And I comics, particularly graphic novels, are systematic to a point, right?

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Like you're not.

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mean, there's obviously like exceptions to every rule.

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But for the most part, when you read a graphic novel, there's like a set amount of line weights and tones and like there's an approach to the pages.

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And so I think creating and understanding the systems and being able to have the vision for what you want out of them.

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is really important and does overlap with design some of saying things like, you know, especially in today's world, most, a lot of people are drawing digitally or they're drawing bigger than the print size.

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So you're, you're creating something and you're spending months and months on something without ever seeing it live in the actual space that you're creating it for.

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Right.

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So that foresight and making sure that you're setting up your process to meet what you want at the end of the day, I think is very parallel with a lot of design and graphic design work.

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I think the big difference is the personal part.

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Design work is always for the most part.

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mean, you might do personal branding or for your, like I do stuff for my band, but like generally speaking, it doesn't have your name on it at the end of the day, really.

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You don't have to put it in your portfolio if you don't want to.

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And so there is sort of like a service industry, make the customer happy feeling.

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Books, graphic novels are the total opposite.

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Like my name is on the front cover.

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Like I don't want it to look like crap.

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It's gotta be good and it's gotta be something that I'm excited about.

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So there's a different level of like self pressure that goes into it.

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But I, you know, I enjoy that.

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I think it's interesting and I think it's really fun to see it come together and seeing it, you know, in print last weekend and being like, yeah, I would buy this.

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I would read this.

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I would support this if somebody else is making it is like a really, there's something really cool about that, especially as a culmination of, you know, so many months of work, like, like anybody else has made comics.

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it's just, it's just a lot of hours.

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So.

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Yeah, it's different.

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I think I have learned lessons from both.

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I also think some of those making the customer happy can be like a point of frustration for a lot of people who work in design or marketing, but it does kind of teach you like thicker scan and teaches you how to be okay with like, you know, like I drew dozens of pages for this book that never got into the book.

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And I know a lot of other creators do stuff like that too.

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And those are hard lessons to learn to be like, I did a lot of work and it's not it.

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So I got to do it again.

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I think that's good.

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You know, you're trying to get to the best, best possible end result you can.

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Yeah, I've heard a lot about that, specifically about movies, but I think you'd obviously say that about a lot of different mediums, in this case, definitely comics where a lot of that stuff that gets left on the cutting room floor can be a little disheartening.

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It's what they call that kill your darlings, right?

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It's like the idea of having to sort of pick what's best for the story rather than like what maybe struck you emotionally.

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And I want to go back just a little bit though, in terms of the design of it all, because...

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I'm a firm believer, especially in 2025, where there's so much great art out there, that design, I think is almost as important than a lot of, like it is as important, if not, maybe one of the most important things, because whether people want to admit it or not, people do judge stuff by, they judge a book by its cover, right?

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And that's something you notice, I think, immediately with your work, but I think specifically with Bridgeplanet 9, that when you see it, when you see the cover, It is, it's striking and it makes you want to read it immediately.

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I, you know, I don't, I'm not trying to butter you up too much here at the beginning of the conversation.

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That's fine.

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I'm good.

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compliments.

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I think that speaks to why people were so jazzed about it at SPX is because it's a book that it sells really well on its cover, right?

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Like there is something to be, we're talking to Chip Kidd next week, who is I think one of the greatest comic designers ever, right?

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I mean, designers period, especially cover artists.

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I don't know why I'm on this show if you're talking to Chip Kidd next week.

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yeah, no, mean, top tier legendary talent for sure.

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He created the freaking Jurassic Park logo.

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mean, the guy is just...

00:15:32.874 --> 00:15:41.214
But I think that speaks to this larger idea that when someone like Alex Ross is creating a book, he partners with Chip Kidd for a reason because of that design aspect.

00:15:41.214 --> 00:15:50.933
And again, to tie that home back into your career, I think that your design history and that sort of emphasis is going to be very, very valuable going forward.

00:15:50.933 --> 00:15:55.134
I want to sort of get into the actual book, the actual interiors of it, all your actual work, right?

00:15:55.134 --> 00:15:55.933
Yeah.

00:15:56.471 --> 00:15:58.413
Bridge Planet Nine is your first published work.

00:15:58.413 --> 00:16:00.745
You've obviously done other comics besides that.

00:16:00.745 --> 00:16:11.735
But I feel like your work, again, speaking on the sequential side, the inside of the cover there, your work carries this quiet intensity, I found, while reading and going through your work in preparation for this conversation.

00:16:11.735 --> 00:16:16.059
It allows the reader, I found, to sort of take time to analyze the page.

00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:18.001
you really can drink it all in.

00:16:18.001 --> 00:16:20.721
You're really effective, I think, with sort of the use of space.

00:16:20.721 --> 00:16:23.138
And again, I think that comes from that design background, right?

00:16:23.138 --> 00:16:29.822
I think this is best illustrated with your usage of like, and I found this a lot in the three fourth page, of like landscape page.

00:16:29.822 --> 00:16:32.673
Like you're sort of like, you're getting a better look of sort of the larger landscape.

00:16:32.673 --> 00:16:36.686
You use that quite a bit, I think in Bridge Planet Nine and also in your other work.

00:16:36.686 --> 00:16:40.633
I feel like it gives a good look of the environment that your characters are in.

00:16:40.633 --> 00:16:50.193
This made me think of like my favorite Peter Weller movies, you know, like these establishing landscape shots that are really important to understanding the environment that your characters live in.

00:16:50.193 --> 00:16:50.604
So.

00:16:50.604 --> 00:16:59.712
How much of that is sort of your artistic impulse again with that design history or is that a deliberate thing that you sort of decide on before you even lay out your panels?

00:17:00.265 --> 00:17:03.076
I mean, it's all deliberate, you you draw every line.

00:17:03.076 --> 00:17:06.558
So you're hopefully making choices as you go along the way.

00:17:06.558 --> 00:17:14.602
But I think it's, uh I think you're right about sense of design in general, because I am aware, like I love my work.

00:17:14.602 --> 00:17:21.109
I'm excited about this book, but I am also aware that I am not like Steve McNibbin or like Olivier Koypail or something.

00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:23.256
Like it's just, it's just different, right?

00:17:23.256 --> 00:17:29.238
So I want to lean into what I feel like are my strengths, which are layouts and design work.

00:17:29.271 --> 00:17:31.363
hopefully like really clear storytelling.

00:17:31.363 --> 00:17:39.257
And I think those establishing thoughts and that breathability in the book is one, I think it's really important for the stories that you want to tell.

00:17:39.257 --> 00:17:42.308
This is a story about a dead planet.

00:17:42.308 --> 00:17:45.111
Like it's empty, it's harsh.

00:17:45.111 --> 00:17:50.834
And I think something that was jam packed might feel a contradictory to that type of feeling.

00:17:50.834 --> 00:18:15.846
But at the same time, I also think to me, comics are a visual medium and particularly people who are new to making comics, what I noticed is you do get a lot of jam-packed lettering and a jam-packed storytelling and you get tons of action on one little page and you have to have all these panels or and you can have really, really incredible artists and even great writers, but it can be hard to follow what's happening.

00:18:15.846 --> 00:18:26.537
And so to me, I really felt like, okay, I'm going to trust my sense of design and I'm going to kind of lean on the fact that like, on a technical level, I might be not as top tier as other people.

00:18:26.537 --> 00:18:34.972
So I want my story to be very clear and paced very, very intentionally so that you know how you're getting through the story.

00:18:34.972 --> 00:18:51.105
And I do think to your point that a lot of that isn't inspired by film and cinema, like just the way that different directors shoot scenes for different reasons and how close they get at certain parts and when they put in those establishing shots and all that.

00:18:51.105 --> 00:18:55.278
I try to pay attention to a lot of that and let it inspire my work as much as I can.

00:18:55.278 --> 00:18:57.781
So I'm glad you're seeing some of that in Connect.

00:18:57.781 --> 00:19:08.404
Yeah, think it's important for readers and listeners of this conversation to understand that like creators, you guys do a lot of thumbnails and a lot of pre-planning for the nothing is by mistake.

00:19:08.404 --> 00:19:09.305
You know what mean?

00:19:09.305 --> 00:19:16.336
So if you're seeing something like again, like a sort of a mountain range on a planet on a barren planet, there's probably a reason for that.

00:19:16.336 --> 00:19:17.508
And I think it maybe speaks.

00:19:17.508 --> 00:19:20.798
I'm not going to pretend to know what exactly what you meant by certain shots.

00:19:20.798 --> 00:19:29.306
But my interpretation was essentially that like you want to illustrate that this is a pretty empty planet and then like Like the only people and I don't want to give too much away of this story.

00:19:29.306 --> 00:19:38.385
I think it's important for us to relatively spoiler free for this conversation because this book won't even come out for about a month after I eventually put this interview out.

00:19:38.385 --> 00:20:02.240
But I want people to understand that like there is there's a lot of this and I think it's important that people know that like the the shots that you include and I also want to I'm going to cut myself off and I'm going to challenge you a little bit all in one breath because the sort of technicality is so secondary I think in comics but especially at the point in your career that you're in, Because, you know, there's only one Steve McNeven, right?

00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:02.705
You know what mean?

00:20:02.705 --> 00:20:04.080
Like, there's only one Trad Moore.

00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:06.133
There's only one Paul Pope.

00:20:06.133 --> 00:20:10.305
The sort of technicality of it all, I think, is so secondary to all that.

00:20:10.305 --> 00:20:16.459
I think you do an incredible job of sort of painting this idea of residents caring about the character.

00:20:16.459 --> 00:20:18.851
You get across the idea that I think you're trying to get across.

00:20:18.851 --> 00:20:20.619
At least I hope that you're trying to get across.

00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:25.961
And I, so I guess I want to give you sort of like a pseudo pat on the back that like, think what you think is really incredible here.

00:20:25.961 --> 00:20:28.813
And I you weren't, I know you weren't fishing for that, right?

00:20:28.813 --> 00:20:38.317
But like, it's important that I illustrate to you in this moment that we're talking face to face, but also to the listener that like the fact that this is your first published work is kind of insane to me.

00:20:38.317 --> 00:20:44.660
I think that's really important that people understand that not only is this your first published work, but that it is this good, you know?

00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:45.910
So that's one of my point.

00:20:45.910 --> 00:20:54.329
I know, again, I try to stay away from the buttering up when it comes to these interviews, but You saying that maybe it sort of prompted me to be like, dude, you're killing it, you know?

00:20:54.858 --> 00:20:55.961
thank you, thank you.

00:20:55.961 --> 00:20:58.489
It's definitely, you know, it's creative work.

00:20:58.489 --> 00:21:01.549
Everybody's insecure trying to navigate this conversation.

00:21:01.549 --> 00:21:10.021
I don't like to quote Kanye West very often anymore, uh he has a great quote from graduation where he's like, we're all self-conscious.

00:21:10.021 --> 00:21:11.113
I'm just the first to admit it.

00:21:11.113 --> 00:21:18.154
I that often, you know, that like, I think that it's important that we should stay humble in these moments and that we all have imposter syndrome.

00:21:18.154 --> 00:21:25.215
do with anything like, you I like to write and obviously the podcast is another creative venture and I work in marketing.

00:21:25.215 --> 00:21:35.458
we sort of work in similar fields where to speak on what you were saying a moment ago in marketing, it's not really about what juices you creatively, it's more about what juices the person that you're working for.

00:21:35.458 --> 00:21:40.142
And that can be sort of demoralizing creatively sometimes, but that's not the job, right?

00:21:40.142 --> 00:21:43.365
It's the job in moments where I get to create a podcast talking to you.

00:21:43.365 --> 00:21:46.587
It's a job where you get to tell a story like Bridge Planet Nine.

00:21:46.587 --> 00:21:48.048
So it's all that.

00:21:48.048 --> 00:21:52.113
But I'm curious to sort of stick on that idea of creativeness.

00:21:52.173 --> 00:21:57.698
When you get stuck creatively, say you've worked out a couple of pages of Bridge Planet Nine or another project.

00:21:57.698 --> 00:21:59.651
What sort of stimulates you to get back in that?

00:21:59.651 --> 00:22:03.486
Is there anything that you sort of do to sort of get you back in that head space to get you going?

00:22:03.682 --> 00:22:04.882
I read a lot.

00:22:04.882 --> 00:22:09.123
mean, that maybe sounds really stupid and obvious on a comic book podcast, but I really do.

00:22:09.123 --> 00:22:15.444
I try to read lots of books all the time, comics and graphic novels, and really shake it up with what I'm reading.

00:22:15.444 --> 00:22:21.666
You know, everything from Spider-Man Marvel stuff to obscure European stuff or whatever.

00:22:21.666 --> 00:22:24.688
And that does help a lot to see other people's ideas coming out.

00:22:24.688 --> 00:22:26.778
ah But I take a lot of walks too.

00:22:26.778 --> 00:22:31.061
I take a lot of long walks with my kid and think through things, you know, and then...

00:22:31.061 --> 00:22:35.183
Of course, you got to have like some sounding boards and friends and people you're talking to you about stuff because you're right.

00:22:35.183 --> 00:22:36.443
It's really easy to get stuck.

00:22:36.443 --> 00:22:43.247
get, I don't feel super stuck with art all the time because I do so much pre-planning before I get into drawing.

00:22:43.247 --> 00:22:47.838
But in terms of beats and story, that's where things get hung up.

00:22:47.838 --> 00:22:52.131
And then it just kind of spins in your head and I'm in the shower or I'm driving to work or something.

00:22:52.131 --> 00:22:59.723
And, know, you're just trying to hammer out whatever that detail is, but definitely other people's work and definitely movies and TV.

00:22:59.723 --> 00:23:14.442
I think, again, there's something, I think to me, graphic novels in particular, as in books like this, are like the most akin to film, know, kind of start middle ending and they're wrapped up and it's done and it's a very like unified vision from one creator.

00:23:14.442 --> 00:23:23.243
So I think film can be really, really helpful to see how people are solving problems or approaching, you know, similar types of situations in their stories.

00:23:23.243 --> 00:23:37.019
It's interesting too, because I think most listeners probably know this, but just for the layman, know, script writing for a comic and script writing for a movie, while not at all the same in terms of structure, they look pretty similar, right?

00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:40.613
In terms of like the way you speak on that better than I can, honestly.

00:23:40.613 --> 00:23:41.613
I just know.

00:23:41.877 --> 00:23:45.482
a lot of TV movie stuff, but there's definitely a lot of crossover people.

00:23:45.482 --> 00:23:55.075
mean, there's a lot of people, you know, I know you talked to Jeff Kameer the other week and like he went to film school and I don't think that's a super unfamiliar story for a lot of creators, you know, learning that format.

00:23:55.075 --> 00:23:57.017
Yeah, there's a crossover.

00:23:57.741 --> 00:24:03.544
Yeah, and Christopher Cantwell we had on the show not too long ago as well, you know, of course he's worked in a ton of movies and television.

00:24:03.544 --> 00:24:06.304
So, and they all kind of speak on the same thing, right?

00:24:06.304 --> 00:24:10.165
It's just this idea that like, yeah, movies and television are fun.

00:24:10.165 --> 00:24:17.288
again, I'm a fan, I assume, know, Jared, you're also a fan as well, but like comics, so there are some stories that you can only tell in comics.

00:24:17.288 --> 00:24:18.948
And I think that's really important.

00:24:18.948 --> 00:24:31.115
And I think that's also a sort of a great transition into talking about sort of this larger idea of why you're here today, which is again, Bridge Planet now we've sort of danced around it, but I'd love to sort of noodle on this book in a very specific way.

00:24:31.115 --> 00:24:36.759
I mentioned it, this is your upcoming sci-fi graphic novel from Top Shelf comes out on October 21st.

00:24:36.798 --> 00:24:40.561
I got an early look, I got to read the entire 200 plus pages early.

00:24:40.561 --> 00:24:42.054
So thank you so much for that.

00:24:42.054 --> 00:24:43.404
Yeah, thank you.

00:24:43.404 --> 00:24:50.180
It's always exciting when I get to chat with folks like yourself who handle every single job in this.

00:24:50.180 --> 00:24:52.642
mean, the only thing you didn't do, I think is probably edit the book.

00:24:52.642 --> 00:24:55.394
You wrote it, you illustrated it, you lettered it.

00:24:55.394 --> 00:24:58.826
And then also a lot of times people will color it, but obviously this book is in black and white.

00:24:58.826 --> 00:25:02.586
And I want to sort of hone in on that idea of the black and whiteness of it all.

00:25:02.586 --> 00:25:04.897
it's sort of a two-parter.

00:25:04.897 --> 00:25:09.539
I'll say, what was your elevator pitch for Top Shelf with Bridgeplanet 9?

00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:12.662
And also, why did you decide to tell this story without color?

00:25:12.942 --> 00:25:17.463
um Elevator pits, you kind of over earlier, but you know, it's a sci-fi heist.

00:25:17.463 --> 00:25:19.213
It's about four people come to this planet.

00:25:19.213 --> 00:25:25.626
I think what makes it a little more unique is the idea that this is a former colony planet.

00:25:25.626 --> 00:25:26.227
It's dead.

00:25:26.227 --> 00:25:28.008
It's not a colony planet anymore.

00:25:28.008 --> 00:25:30.428
And it's been bought by a corporation.

00:25:30.428 --> 00:25:43.161
So um in this universe, there's these things called bridge planets, which are basically Planets that have been confirmed as uninhabited and now corporations can buy them and kind of rip out all their natural resources to fuel their ships.

00:25:43.161 --> 00:25:45.843
So it of just becomes like a giant gas station planet.

00:25:45.843 --> 00:25:50.044
And so the freighter that they're robbing from is self-piloted.

00:25:50.044 --> 00:25:55.686
So the idea is that they're doing this heist and theoretically there shouldn't be anybody around for millions of miles, right?

00:25:55.686 --> 00:25:56.846
Like it should be a breeze.

00:25:56.846 --> 00:26:04.086
If they do it right, no one will even know they stole anything for months because it takes, you know, a long time to fly across space, of course.

00:26:04.086 --> 00:26:07.267
Spoiler alert, it doesn't go all that smoothly, clearly.

00:26:07.267 --> 00:26:08.557
But yeah, that was the pitch.

00:26:08.557 --> 00:26:17.372
kind of like it's, in some ways there's some very typical heist structure, but in other ways it definitely goes off the rails and kind of is a different type of animal.

00:26:17.372 --> 00:26:20.032
In terms of black and white, I work mostly in black and white.

00:26:20.032 --> 00:26:22.933
I won't give you an RC like pretentious reason.

00:26:22.933 --> 00:26:25.965
don't, I don't, I feel like my wife.

00:26:26.855 --> 00:26:30.538
I'll give you the pretentious reason after you get picked which one you want to put in the podcast.

00:26:30.538 --> 00:26:31.294
Okay.

00:26:31.294 --> 00:26:33.394
No, I have a hard time with color.

00:26:33.394 --> 00:26:34.455
I can do it.

00:26:34.455 --> 00:26:37.906
It takes a very long time and I really enjoy working in black and white.

00:26:37.906 --> 00:26:46.361
And I think particularly with this kind of story that is gritty and a little, this is not a neon crisp future that's clean and sterile.

00:26:46.361 --> 00:26:49.623
This is like, I call like a clunky future.

00:26:49.623 --> 00:26:57.006
uh There's a lot of like sharp edges and uh junk and know, like stings on metal.

00:26:57.006 --> 00:26:59.795
like a Waylon Yutani inspired future.

00:26:59.795 --> 00:27:00.875
oh, absolutely.

00:27:00.875 --> 00:27:02.998
100 % way inspired.

00:27:02.998 --> 00:27:10.165
So I think black and white works really well in that world, you know, and it fits the vibe of what the story is like.

00:27:10.186 --> 00:27:11.769
And I really like how it prints too.

00:27:11.769 --> 00:27:19.990
And it's, again, it's also sort of going back to that design and layout feeling of it brings a level of simplicity.

00:27:19.990 --> 00:27:25.354
and kind of predictability while you're reading it that I think makes it easier to focus on the story and on the characters.

00:27:25.354 --> 00:27:31.258
I'm this particular story, I think you can accomplish that with color as well, but I think in this book, it works really well in black and white.

00:27:31.258 --> 00:27:35.490
It also is, yeah, mean, color takes a really long time, especially when you're working by yourself too.

00:27:35.490 --> 00:27:41.247
Whenever I see like beautifully colored, long graphic novels, I just feel bad for people.

00:27:41.247 --> 00:27:45.686
I'm like, this must have been so many years of your life, you know?

00:27:45.847 --> 00:27:49.592
And then I buy it, of course, uh but yeah.

00:27:49.592 --> 00:27:51.542
Yeah, it's interesting.

00:27:51.542 --> 00:27:53.744
I found that really jarring.

00:27:53.744 --> 00:27:54.835
Jarring is not the correct word.

00:27:54.835 --> 00:27:58.968
I found it really, I love what you said, but also I wanted to sort of find a more romantic way to say it.

00:27:58.968 --> 00:28:00.127
I love the black and white.

00:28:00.127 --> 00:28:06.382
Every time I get to see a black and white, I know Marvel and DC sometimes will do like the black, white and a color.

00:28:06.382 --> 00:28:11.575
That's sort of the new shtick with them now is to sort of do like- They more brain stuff.

00:28:11.575 --> 00:28:16.397
Yeah, like they did, they've done it with Star Wars as well where they'll sort of like do the black and white.

00:28:16.589 --> 00:28:19.329
TMNT did it with, I think it was black, white and green.

00:28:19.329 --> 00:28:21.269
like, it's fun.

00:28:21.269 --> 00:28:22.569
There is something to it though.

00:28:22.569 --> 00:28:27.849
And I'm not, guess I'm not smart enough to know what it really is, but it works really well in this setting.

00:28:27.849 --> 00:28:28.789
And I totally agree with you.

00:28:28.789 --> 00:28:31.990
think again, the strength of this story is its characters, right?

00:28:31.990 --> 00:28:35.930
And I was getting sort of like, do you ever see the movie, uh, sunshine?

00:28:35.930 --> 00:28:36.950
It's got like Chris Evans.

00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:37.769
Sunshine?

00:28:37.769 --> 00:28:38.269
Yeah.

00:28:38.269 --> 00:28:39.529
I don't know if I have.

00:28:39.529 --> 00:28:41.450
It's Alex Garland film from the 2000s.

00:28:41.450 --> 00:28:46.198
It's got like Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans and Benedict Wong.

00:28:46.198 --> 00:28:47.568
and I'm spacing who else is in it.

00:28:47.568 --> 00:28:49.289
But it's like a stack cast.

00:28:49.289 --> 00:28:53.021
An insane cast from the 2000s where it's like three movies.

00:28:53.021 --> 00:29:01.727
It starts off as like this alien inspired sci-fi and then it sort of drifts into this like sort of psychological thriller space opera.

00:29:01.727 --> 00:29:04.909
And then at the end it just becomes this total slasher horror film.

00:29:04.909 --> 00:29:07.609
it's wildly slept on.

00:29:07.609 --> 00:29:09.471
It kind of reminded me of that.

00:29:09.471 --> 00:29:12.032
Like this book kind of reminded me of that.

00:29:12.032 --> 00:29:14.251
And there's also a little bit of like event horizon.

00:29:14.251 --> 00:29:25.690
in there too, or like a, this crew with a lot uh of folks who have something to hide, going to do a thing that ends up being a wildly different venture than they were anticipating.

00:29:25.990 --> 00:29:28.801
just, it really, it sort of played all those notes really well.

00:29:28.801 --> 00:29:30.864
And I don't know if any of that was sort of an inspiration for you.

00:29:30.864 --> 00:29:35.547
And I sort of hate that sort of thought of like, it's one of those questions on the podcast.

00:29:35.547 --> 00:29:45.369
I'll sort of expose my underbelly as an interviewer where I sort of hate those questions of like, what inspired you to tell the story or, know, Who would you rather draw, Batman or Spider-Man?

00:29:45.369 --> 00:29:46.829
You know, like that kind of questions.

00:29:46.829 --> 00:29:58.721
I am sort of curious a little bit if you can sort of crack that nut open a little bit in terms of like what sort of pulled you in that direction of telling a story like this again, this sort of sci-fi grimy heist.

00:29:58.721 --> 00:30:01.743
No, it's a perfectly valid question to ask, I think.

00:30:01.743 --> 00:30:03.781
It's funny you mentioned Event Horizon.

00:30:03.781 --> 00:30:12.580
I like a lot of horror stories and um a lot of the people I've talked to who've gotten a chance to read the book are like, I didn't think, like, is this kind of horror?

00:30:12.580 --> 00:30:13.942
Like, is this supposed to be this way?

00:30:13.942 --> 00:30:16.854
And there's definitely like a splash of that in there.

00:30:16.854 --> 00:30:20.057
And I'm glad people are picking it up because it's definitely, definitely intentional.

00:30:20.057 --> 00:30:25.180
uh I mean, I love, I love Twilight Zone dearly.

00:30:25.180 --> 00:30:35.844
So um a lot of that kind of just Kind of eerie, but not full on like throat cutting stuff, you know, is very appealing to me.

00:30:35.943 --> 00:30:38.194
But I, you know, there's a lot of other stuff too.

00:30:38.194 --> 00:30:39.664
I love paper girls.

00:30:39.664 --> 00:30:41.556
I love on the sunbeam.

00:30:41.556 --> 00:30:44.096
I like, I love the show, Barry.

00:30:44.096 --> 00:30:47.657
It like one of my all time favorite shows, like fantastic crying show.

00:30:47.657 --> 00:30:54.605
All of, a lot of those stories have a lot of this like, kind of like you were saying earlier, this sort of like.

00:30:54.605 --> 00:30:58.657
I don't want to call it slow burn, it's a little bit like, it's not always so overt, right?

00:30:58.657 --> 00:31:07.053
It's just kind of a leading anxiety or feeling overall as you get slow paced breadcrumbs and revelations throughout.

00:31:07.053 --> 00:31:15.497
And I think when people can do that really well without getting boring, ah it's very rewarding and I think it's also very smart to me.

00:31:15.497 --> 00:31:18.219
So I hope that I could capture some of that.

00:31:18.219 --> 00:31:23.842
But that's certainly the type of stuff that I read or watch and I'm like, I want to make stuff like this.

00:31:24.117 --> 00:31:26.153
Yeah, I love a methodical drama.

00:31:26.153 --> 00:31:32.589
It's also why I really love like the Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips team in comics because all time.

00:31:32.589 --> 00:31:34.698
I got like.

00:31:34.698 --> 00:31:36.823
probably see him over here, but there's quite a few.

00:31:36.823 --> 00:31:38.496
killer be killed back there as well.

00:31:38.496 --> 00:31:39.075
Yeah.

00:31:39.075 --> 00:31:39.465
Yep.

00:31:39.465 --> 00:31:39.737
Yep.

00:31:39.737 --> 00:31:40.961
All the reckless ones.

00:31:40.961 --> 00:31:41.862
Yep, absolutely.

00:31:41.862 --> 00:31:44.544
It's just that I love that sort of genre.

00:31:44.544 --> 00:31:51.826
And then I do understand how people will say that Bridgeplant 9 is sort of treading on that realm of horror because, horror is flexible like that.

00:31:51.826 --> 00:31:53.847
can sort of exist in like this.

00:31:53.847 --> 00:32:00.422
And I to think of like the like when I think of the flexibility of horror, the first person that comes to mind immediately is like an Ari Aster who...

00:32:00.422 --> 00:32:00.570
Sure.

00:32:00.570 --> 00:32:01.201
Yeah, yeah.

00:32:01.201 --> 00:32:03.422
...can say that like all his movies have like a little...

00:32:03.422 --> 00:32:06.614
Like Hereditary is the obvious answer and even Midsommar to a certain extent.

00:32:06.614 --> 00:32:07.317
But like...

00:32:07.317 --> 00:32:14.173
I wouldn't really even categorize any of his four films to be full, like, well, especially, Bo Is Afraid and of course, Eddington.

00:32:14.173 --> 00:32:18.895
Neither one of those are really horror necessarily, but there are like, I think there are like horror elements to them, absolutely, you know?

00:32:18.895 --> 00:32:19.375
Yeah.

00:32:19.375 --> 00:32:22.519
So, and I can definitely, again, see that with Bridge Planet Nine.

00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:28.073
don't, again, I think the heist sort of sci-finess is really more of a, I think it might be a more accurate way of going about it.

00:32:28.073 --> 00:32:42.611
But I also, you know, again, to speak on sort of the Ari Aster of it all, this thing that you're sort of circling in this story, I think is more of like a, this idea of, grief and loss and this inevitable transformation that comes from experience and all that, that sort of is very evident, think, throughout the story.

00:32:42.611 --> 00:32:51.917
So I have a question sort of centering on this uh idea of like protecting yourself, like as the creator of stuff like this, and I think you can say the same thing about your other work as well.

00:32:51.978 --> 00:32:57.352
How do you protect yourself emotionally while working on stuff that's super heavy like Bridge Planet Nine and so on?

00:32:57.577 --> 00:33:06.993
Say more about protect yourself, like trying to, do you mean protect myself in terms of like, where's the public or how it affects me or?

00:33:07.054 --> 00:33:09.013
I guess there's a couple of ways you could go about it.

00:33:09.013 --> 00:33:29.993
mean, there's sort of like this Heath Ledger going to a hole in your hotel type of like not drawing too much from your own experiences in these stories and sort of supplanting them into the story sort of half-hazardly, I guess as well, but also like working on it for an extended period of time and not losing, I guess your light.

00:33:29.993 --> 00:33:30.973
I don't know.

00:33:31.013 --> 00:33:32.794
I was hoping you would sort of run with it, Jared.

00:33:32.794 --> 00:33:33.663
don't know.

00:33:33.663 --> 00:33:35.124
Yeah, no, that's okay.

00:33:35.124 --> 00:33:38.236
That's like a really sweet way of saying my stuff is depressing.

00:33:38.236 --> 00:33:40.537
ah No, yeah.

00:33:40.537 --> 00:33:46.420
To me, think it's just heavy stuff resonates.

00:33:46.420 --> 00:33:50.651
It's kind of like eating candy for dinner or steak.

00:33:50.651 --> 00:33:55.252
I love candy, of course, but you need something real.

00:33:55.252 --> 00:33:56.634
You need substance at some point.

00:33:56.634 --> 00:34:01.281
And I think those are the stories that people usually connect with more.

00:34:01.281 --> 00:34:08.583
Even with lighthearted stuff, you ask people about their favorite X-Men story or something, it's probably something that is a little heavy.

00:34:08.583 --> 00:34:11.695
It's probably a Claremont story or something like that.

00:34:11.695 --> 00:34:14.985
Yeah, exactly.

00:34:15.427 --> 00:34:18.126
Not a light story at all.

00:34:18.568 --> 00:34:26.449
to me, and in terms of protecting or not putting too much of myself in it, I actually find myself working the opposite direction.

00:34:26.722 --> 00:34:28.382
connect with work that is vulnerable.

00:34:28.382 --> 00:34:30.693
And so I strive to be okay with that.

00:34:30.693 --> 00:34:32.704
Like, no, put more of yourself into it.

00:34:32.704 --> 00:34:35.005
Like, don't be scared to say things.

00:34:35.005 --> 00:34:36.346
Don't be scared to show yourself.

00:34:36.346 --> 00:34:38.106
That's how people connect with art.

00:34:38.106 --> 00:34:43.617
And I think about creators that I like, like Jeff Lemire, or like Tilly Walden is really good at it.

00:34:43.617 --> 00:34:47.250
Like you read her books and you feel like you can get to know her in the books.

00:34:47.250 --> 00:34:48.146
Feel guarded.

00:34:48.146 --> 00:34:55.293
It feels like she's putting herself out there and that is a huge part of the draw and what makes those stories so special.

00:34:55.293 --> 00:34:56.146
So.

00:34:56.146 --> 00:35:01.099
I think that's all important and you know, not that I've ever been on a sci-fi heist yet.

00:35:01.101 --> 00:35:02.219
You are young, you know.

00:35:02.219 --> 00:35:02.885
I am young.

00:35:02.885 --> 00:35:04.755
got a lot of life ahead of you.

00:35:04.940 --> 00:35:06.311
Right, bucket list.

00:35:06.311 --> 00:35:16.576
But yes, I think there are things in the characters or, you know, there is some stuff in there that's a little heavier, like hard to deal with, or maybe things that I've had experiences with in one way or another in my life.

00:35:16.576 --> 00:35:18.416
And I think it's good to connect with those emotions.

00:35:18.416 --> 00:35:22.597
So I don't, I don't feel if I, maybe I don't protect myself enough.

00:35:22.597 --> 00:35:24.079
Protect is maybe not the right word.

00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:30.222
I think it's more of just getting in touch with yourself and telling honest stories is.

00:35:30.248 --> 00:35:32.840
I think always going to be the best way to do it.

00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:43.199
the more honest I can get and the more of me I can put into the work, I think the more people can hopefully connect with it and be like, yeah, I'm a person too.

00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:45.592
And I've felt those things are done those things, you know?

00:35:45.592 --> 00:35:52.539
I think music in particular is a little bit more of a direct line with that sometimes, but it's the same thing to me, you know?

00:35:52.539 --> 00:35:56.652
When you have super, super generic pop songs, they don't resonate and then you...

00:35:56.652 --> 00:36:03.438
You hear that one dude on an acoustic in a bar and he's pouring his heart out and you're like, my God, I've been there, man.

00:36:03.438 --> 00:36:10.505
know, um, to a degree there's obviously like, you can cross the line either direction, but yeah, connecting with people emotionally.

00:36:10.505 --> 00:36:12.166
I think that's what it's, what it's all about.

00:36:12.166 --> 00:36:18.313
I don't, I don't see a drawback for putting myself into the page as much as I can, you know, Sure.

00:36:18.313 --> 00:36:23.114
I talked about this recently with Tony McMillan when he was on the show a couple of weeks ago.

00:36:23.373 --> 00:36:24.434
it's this idea.

00:36:24.434 --> 00:36:31.313
I'm obsessed with this sort of relationship dynamic between a creator and a fan.

00:36:31.313 --> 00:36:34.074
Like I'm painting this picture of everybody at home that's listening.

00:36:34.293 --> 00:36:37.094
This creator who writes this really personal thing.

00:36:37.094 --> 00:36:39.173
Like again, for instance, like Bridge Planet 9.

00:36:39.173 --> 00:36:41.153
I'll just use you as an example here, Jared.

00:36:41.153 --> 00:36:44.717
Say you were at SPX and say Bridge Planet 9 was already out.

00:36:44.717 --> 00:36:54.418
And say someone comes to your booth and says, oh my gosh, they like pour their heart out to you and they're in near tears by how it sort of struck them and sort of really spoke to them in a certain way.

00:36:54.418 --> 00:36:57.197
And you're from your vantage point.

00:36:57.197 --> 00:37:05.137
And I think this is natural as you're like, maybe you're like, oh my gosh, this person is they think they know me because of this thing that I put out.

00:37:05.137 --> 00:37:08.737
I'm just obsessed with this dynamic because you feel that.

00:37:08.737 --> 00:37:16.331
know that for instance, like for a while there when I was in sort of, I would say in the mid 2010s, I had this really hot Donny Cates run.

00:37:16.331 --> 00:37:18.693
was really into Donny and his work.

00:37:18.733 --> 00:37:22.025
And you know, cause he is someone I think is pretty cool.

00:37:22.025 --> 00:37:30.302
You know, when he was at the height of his career, it was pretty apparent that he was sort of, you know, shooting from the hip in terms of like his work and things that he was writing about, right?

00:37:30.302 --> 00:37:37.833
Like he had, you know, I think it's no secret that he had like some issues, you know, his earlier years and he was sort baby teeth and all that stuff.

00:37:37.833 --> 00:37:38.655
Absolutely.

00:37:38.655 --> 00:37:43.699
Buzzkill, know, like all these things are speaking very much to like some of his life things.

00:37:43.699 --> 00:37:47.021
And, you know, I thought I knew him so well based on that work, right?

00:37:47.021 --> 00:37:52.097
And then you get, and like I've had the opportunity to work with Donnie through, I work for Comic Sketch Art.

00:37:52.097 --> 00:37:55.110
If you've ever been to a convention, it's like this comic book.

00:37:55.110 --> 00:37:57.132
And, know, Donnie Cates is one of those folks.

00:37:57.132 --> 00:37:58.282
And it's just interesting.

00:37:58.282 --> 00:38:04.449
It's sort of, it's sort of dynamic that I'm obsessed with because you're getting to know these folks through their work and...

00:38:04.449 --> 00:38:07.773
I don't have like a really interesting sort of tie in to a question.

00:38:07.773 --> 00:38:19.202
I guess I'm sort of excited for that moment for you at some point down the road where like someone can come up to your booth and go, man, I was really attached to this book and you can sort of experience that.

00:38:19.202 --> 00:38:29.179
just curious to, one day down the road, Jared, when you come back on the show, I'm really curious to sort of hear your thoughts on that idea and sort of that dynamic and how you sort of respond to that moment.

00:38:29.208 --> 00:38:30.237
Yeah, we'll talk about it.

00:38:30.237 --> 00:38:32.719
Yeah, the whole parasocial thing, it is fascinating.

00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:40.360
It's funny because I think podcasts are the peak of that because people listen to a lot of podcasts, you really get to know the people hosting them.

00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:41.931
And I've had that happen.

00:38:41.931 --> 00:38:48.373
There's a few comic podcasts that I listen to and I meet them at New York Comic Con or whatever and they're like, yo, hey, and of course, like, why wouldn't they be that way?

00:38:48.373 --> 00:38:54.255
They don't know me, but I'm like, no, I heard all your stories about your kids and about how hard it was to draw this book and stuff.

00:38:54.255 --> 00:38:56.585
And they're like, yeah, like if you want to buy a friend.

00:38:56.585 --> 00:39:04.041
um Well, let me ask you this, not to put you on the spot and I don't, don't be honest, please.

00:39:04.041 --> 00:39:05.382
just, I'm serious.

00:39:05.641 --> 00:39:09.541
Have you ever listened to an episode of the oblivion bar before?

00:39:09.862 --> 00:39:14.882
And we obviously had a little time to chat before the interview and we're going to get back to bridge planet nine at some point.

00:39:14.882 --> 00:39:26.400
I promise you we're still a little bit of And Aaron's not here so he can't really defend himself, but like in that small interaction, do you feel like our personality sort of come through correctly?

00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:30.824
I guess, you know, we haven't had a chance to hang out in person and I hope we do at some point, but I'd be curious.

00:39:30.824 --> 00:39:33.436
I guess this would be a better question when that eventually happens.

00:39:33.436 --> 00:39:37.639
like, yeah, you definitely bring up a good point of like the podcast.

00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:46.335
We do expose it your belly to a certain point, but who we are in this conversation doesn't, I don't know if it always reflects well on who we actually are in person.

00:39:46.574 --> 00:39:47.193
Oh, sure.

00:39:47.193 --> 00:39:47.614
Yeah.

00:39:47.614 --> 00:39:52.253
And there's obviously things you're not going to talk about on a podcast that you might talk about in person.

00:39:52.853 --> 00:39:56.353
yeah, but no, I mean, I think it's good.

00:39:56.353 --> 00:40:01.634
think from what I've heard, I feel like, you know, you get to know you guys and I think personality is a big part of podcasts.

00:40:01.634 --> 00:40:08.693
Not that I know anything about podcasts, but the ones I listened to, I like hearing a little bit more.

00:40:08.760 --> 00:40:10.688
What are some of your favorite podcasts?

00:40:10.688 --> 00:40:13.016
Just out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite comic book podcasts?

00:40:13.016 --> 00:40:14.126
Comic book podcast.

00:40:14.126 --> 00:40:17.789
um I'm a very not loyal podcast listener.

00:40:17.789 --> 00:40:19.268
So I kind of bounce around a little bit.

00:40:19.268 --> 00:40:20.302
I have listened to this one.

00:40:20.302 --> 00:40:21.543
I've listened to Off Panel.

00:40:21.543 --> 00:40:23.534
I've listened to a lot of Inkful.

00:40:23.534 --> 00:40:27.898
ah Yeah, Sean and Mateo.

00:40:27.898 --> 00:40:30.880
I'm a big fan of uh Mateo's work.

00:40:31.661 --> 00:40:34.012
So I really like hearing his thoughts on process.

00:40:34.012 --> 00:40:37.867
But yeah, I've listened to some of other ones, Mark Miller's podcast.

00:40:37.867 --> 00:40:40.230
I was just curious, some of my peers.

00:40:40.230 --> 00:40:47.193
I just, always care where people's ears are at, you know, cause I always feel like even to this day, I'm shouting into the void.

00:40:47.193 --> 00:40:50.976
Aaron and I are shouting into the void with the show, but it's always the best feeling.

00:40:50.976 --> 00:40:54.590
And it's only happened like, please, everybody don't hear what I'm not saying.

00:40:54.590 --> 00:40:56.981
This has happened like six times in my entire life.

00:40:56.981 --> 00:41:01.103
But if someone comes up and is like, my gosh, I listened to the oblivion bar and I enjoy it.

00:41:01.103 --> 00:41:02.905
always tickles me.

00:41:02.905 --> 00:41:07.309
you know, I guess it was one of those things where I'm always curious where like, especially creators like.

00:41:07.309 --> 00:41:13.909
It always very much surprises me when I have a creator on and they're like, oh yeah, I've looked the greatest compliment I've ever gotten.

00:41:13.909 --> 00:41:18.969
Jared is when Brian cave-on said that we gave the best, the best Tom King interview he's ever heard.

00:41:18.969 --> 00:41:20.130
I will look at that.

00:41:20.130 --> 00:41:21.574
you can put that on my gray.

00:41:21.639 --> 00:41:28.438
Yeah, so Brian came on talking about Tom King and you all in the same sentence, all of that happening at once.

00:41:28.438 --> 00:41:29.581
Yeah, that sounds pretty great.

00:41:29.581 --> 00:41:36.322
Yeah, will keep that in my, that like refills my lifeblood when I need it, you know?

00:41:36.322 --> 00:41:38.161
But enough bragging about the show.

00:41:38.161 --> 00:41:49.362
Let's talk more about Planet 9, because I need to ask you, you know, again, as you said earlier, Bridge Planet 9 first published work, you've obviously done other pieces, you did a one shot and you had another graphic novel, we'll talk about here in just a moment.

00:41:49.402 --> 00:41:54.362
But what was it that Top Shelf said to you that convinced you that that was the right publisher for this story?

00:41:55.181 --> 00:42:15.179
uh Nothing because I've been reading Top Shelf for years so it was really cool to work with them because it wasn't somebody that I had to kind of schmooze insincerely or be like, let me look at their Wikipedia page real quick so I know what books they put out when I talk to them.

00:42:15.681 --> 00:42:21.204
I read Top Shelf, I've got plenty on my shelf over there and I've known...

00:42:22.257 --> 00:42:24.702
Chris Starr's work since long before I met him.

00:42:24.702 --> 00:42:28.119
So once that ball got rolling, I was on board.

00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:30.065
They certainly did not have to convince me.

00:42:30.065 --> 00:42:31.936
I was pretty excited about working with them.

00:42:31.936 --> 00:42:33.706
uh us being your editor.

00:42:33.706 --> 00:42:35.150
just for everybody.

00:42:35.192 --> 00:42:39.485
Chris Starros is editor in chief for Top Shelf and kind of the the Top Shelf guy.

00:42:39.485 --> 00:42:43.487
And this, yeah, I don't call him that.

00:42:43.487 --> 00:42:54.175
We're not close enough, but other people, no, but he's, you know, he's worked with Alan Moore and Jeff Lemire and all these other, Robert Bandetti and all those guys.

00:42:54.175 --> 00:42:57.507
So yeah, when that was an opportunity, I was pretty excited to take it.

00:42:57.507 --> 00:43:02.753
And he was pretty forward about like, hey, we might get into your story a lot and really try to figure out.

00:43:02.753 --> 00:43:03.673
best way to tell it.

00:43:03.673 --> 00:43:08.585
And as anybody who makes any comics knows, usually you're like really flying solo.

00:43:08.585 --> 00:43:17.018
Like you might send it to your friends or something, but most people are not going to tell you, you know, they're not going to be super blunt about what they think is really great or really bad.

00:43:17.018 --> 00:43:18.148
So it was good.

00:43:18.148 --> 00:43:24.059
And it was good to work with a publisher that I felt like had put out lots of good books.

00:43:24.059 --> 00:43:26.469
So I knew it wasn't just sort of like random opinions.

00:43:26.469 --> 00:43:32.215
It was coming from, from people with experience who have really done awesome work and it made it a lot easier to.

00:43:32.215 --> 00:43:34.081
to feel collaborative about it.

00:43:34.541 --> 00:43:40.681
Yeah, there is a really nice piece of mind there when it comes to someone that has a record like Top Shelf, like you said, and Chris as well.

00:43:40.762 --> 00:43:44.762
Both of those institutions within comics are known for making great comics.

00:43:44.862 --> 00:43:46.442
You mentioned Jeff Lemire.

00:43:46.521 --> 00:43:50.121
When I think of Top Shelf, I think immediately of Jeff Lemire.

00:43:50.121 --> 00:43:54.202
Because all the work that he did there with Essex County and so on.

00:43:55.021 --> 00:43:59.726
I think Top Shelf is a publisher that I am...

00:43:59.726 --> 00:44:04.485
I'm often like, I'll have a thought during a day I'll be like, man, I haven't looked to see what top shelf has put out here recently.

00:44:04.485 --> 00:44:13.346
That should go and look, you know, it's because they, it's almost, they always have something out that I think can resonate with a large group of folks, but like specifically me, you know?

00:44:13.474 --> 00:44:19.460
No, every time I go to SBS, there's top shelf books like weighing down my backpack by the time I leave.

00:44:19.534 --> 00:44:20.393
Sure.

00:44:20.514 --> 00:44:23.134
Well, Jared, I have one final question for you here.

00:44:23.134 --> 00:44:28.733
You know, you've been so generous with your time and I appreciate you joining us here on the Oblivion Bar, us being me today because Aaron's not here.

00:44:28.733 --> 00:44:39.853
But and again, it sort of circles back to this idea that we haven't really touched on, but I think it was like I was immediately curious about when you're sort of looking at your career as a whole thus far and it's this idea of collaboration, you know.

00:44:39.853 --> 00:44:45.974
I firmly believe and I think you maybe would agree that like comics can be like the greatest collaboration of any medium.

00:44:45.974 --> 00:44:47.106
Oh, yeah, of course.

00:44:47.106 --> 00:44:50.418
movies and music and tell all these things, definitely.

00:44:50.418 --> 00:45:00.086
But like comics, I feel like there's this idea of just like six, five to seven people getting together and making this beautiful thing that just the story that can't be told in any other medium.

00:45:00.086 --> 00:45:01.838
There's something really special about it.

00:45:01.838 --> 00:45:06.045
And thus far, though, in your career, you've been a solo act.

00:45:06.045 --> 00:45:14.731
know, I'm just curious, you know, again, final question for you here, Jared, is like, is it appealing to you at all to eventually partner up with someone in comics to tell a story or?

00:45:14.731 --> 00:45:18.291
Has it always been the goal for you to tell your stories the way that you want to?

00:45:18.744 --> 00:45:20.355
I hate all people.

00:45:20.355 --> 00:45:22.016
So no, I'm just kidding.

00:45:22.016 --> 00:45:26.099
It's absolutely part of my plan and what I want to do.

00:45:26.099 --> 00:45:38.802
I think there is something really, really cool about making a book and feeling like you made it on your own and being able to, you know, even small stuff like visualizing it, writing the scripts out and then drawing it yourself.

00:45:38.802 --> 00:45:42.965
it can really stream, as weird as it sounds, can like streamline your process a lot too.

00:45:42.965 --> 00:45:46.670
It gets obviously more work on your end, but there's something really nice about it.

00:45:46.670 --> 00:45:48.409
having that totality involved.

00:45:48.409 --> 00:45:51.570
But I would love to work with artists and write more books.

00:45:51.570 --> 00:45:57.373
uh I would like to draw books for other people too, but I think I'd really like to write more and have other artists involved.

00:45:57.373 --> 00:46:02.673
But it's also a time thing and a kind of one project at a time type thing.

00:46:02.673 --> 00:46:09.755
And then there's certainly projects that I have in mind that I don't want other people to draw that I'm excited to draw and going to do at some point.

00:46:09.755 --> 00:46:13.277
But yeah, collaboration, mean, definitely up for it.

00:46:13.277 --> 00:46:16.557
can be tough to find the right people to work with, but.

00:46:16.590 --> 00:46:19.730
It is certainly part of the plan at some point.

00:46:20.289 --> 00:46:26.306
Yeah, you know, it's one of those things where I'm always so impressed, as I said earlier, someone who can do the coloring.

00:46:26.306 --> 00:46:32.193
Again, you didn't do the coloring here, but like the writing, the the lettering, the whole shebang.

00:46:32.193 --> 00:46:34.945
You did lettering for this, I'm assuming, right?

00:46:34.945 --> 00:46:37.186
Yeah, I did all of it.

00:46:37.186 --> 00:46:38.487
And it's good.

00:46:38.487 --> 00:46:43.440
I would honestly say, if you want to make comics, it can be good to do it either way.

00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:54.306
Even if you make a book and you're like, I actually think this is terrible, doing all of it is still really, I think it gives you really rounded perspective on the process and what people need to do those jobs and the types of skills.

00:46:54.306 --> 00:46:56.097
And it's good.

00:46:56.097 --> 00:46:56.797
Yeah.

00:46:56.797 --> 00:47:04.579
We talked to, I'm name dropping like a jerk tonight, we had Tom McFarlane on the show earlier in the week.

00:47:04.579 --> 00:47:05.621
Who's that?

00:47:05.822 --> 00:47:06.211
Yeah.

00:47:06.211 --> 00:47:06.461
Yeah.

00:47:06.461 --> 00:47:08.342
Just some guy, some Indy guy.

00:47:08.342 --> 00:47:09.353
haven't heard of him probably.

00:47:09.353 --> 00:47:10.164
Right.

00:47:10.164 --> 00:47:14.545
He got, like the funny thing about Todd is that he doesn't like to answer questions directly.

00:47:14.545 --> 00:47:18.427
Like I've heard this through rumblings throughout podcasting.

00:47:18.427 --> 00:47:22.548
all, they tell you about like, he's a great guest, but he won't answer your question.

00:47:22.548 --> 00:47:23.378
You'll ask him a question.

00:47:23.378 --> 00:47:24.358
He'll go, well, I don't know.

00:47:24.358 --> 00:47:25.099
I don't see it like that.

00:47:25.099 --> 00:47:28.746
You could be like, Todd, you think Todd is spawned the greatest character of all time.

00:47:28.746 --> 00:47:30.108
And he'd be like, well, I don't know.

00:47:30.108 --> 00:47:30.757
I wouldn't say that.

00:47:30.757 --> 00:47:34.849
And then he'd go on this long spiel about the actual thing that he wanted to talk about.

00:47:34.889 --> 00:47:54.349
did go on this spiel of this idea of like, you know, when it comes, part of his frustration with Marvel and working with a collaborator when it came to like doing the Hulk and Spider-Man and everything else was that like these writers would not respect that he has to draw the New York skyline.

00:47:54.349 --> 00:47:57.010
17 times in a 22 page comic.

00:47:57.010 --> 00:47:57.429
Yeah, yeah.

00:47:57.429 --> 00:48:02.829
You know, so there's something that idea that like but then like again to sort of flip it on its head, know, we've already talked about it.

00:48:02.829 --> 00:48:03.949
My favorite writer is Brian K.

00:48:03.949 --> 00:48:08.621
Vaughn and he has like I love Okay, man, he's top pick for me as well.

00:48:08.621 --> 00:48:15.081
Yeah, he's just incredible and he has this saying that I've heard him say in panels and he said it on our show when I had him on.

00:48:15.081 --> 00:48:16.942
He always says, I'm not a novelist.

00:48:16.942 --> 00:48:20.621
I love the collaborative sort of venture in comics.

00:48:20.922 --> 00:48:30.762
So there's no wrong answer, but it's of the things that I'm curious about with creators and you have people who start off as an artist and will sort of morph into the writer artist.

00:48:30.762 --> 00:48:35.521
think of Daniel Warren Johnson is think a classic example of someone who I think maybe.

00:48:35.563 --> 00:48:37.235
won't ever, no, I'm not even going to say this.

00:48:37.235 --> 00:48:40.695
Like I was going to say, maybe never, never draws a book by itself.

00:48:40.695 --> 00:48:46.438
Like he'll, he'll always write and draw, but he recently just wrote and had Raleigh Rossimo draw, you know, series.

00:48:46.438 --> 00:48:47.963
So I don't know.

00:48:47.963 --> 00:49:13.474
It's one of those things that I'm always just kind of curious to hear the thoughts of a creator because, know, when we talk down the road, you and I, you know, a couple of years or even longer, maybe I hope it's not that long, but if it is, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this collaborative sort of venture, because it sort of sounds like you're okay with sort of doing the, the the comic scene yourself, but also like it sounds like, again, as you said, you want to, wouldn't, you wouldn't mind writing stuff or maybe even drawing, but.

00:49:13.474 --> 00:49:18.266
Yeah, I think there's stuff, particularly with art, that I just feel like I have ideas that other people could do better.

00:49:18.266 --> 00:49:23.981
And I might feel like my style would shortchange those particular types of concepts.

00:49:23.981 --> 00:49:30.005
And then there's other stuff, like I said, on the other end of that, which is like, I think it fits what I do.

00:49:30.005 --> 00:49:31.565
so I want to keep it there.

00:49:31.726 --> 00:49:34.467
I do love, we've mentioned Jeff and me a few times.

00:49:34.467 --> 00:49:38.070
ah I'm a huge fan, if that wasn't super clear.

00:49:38.070 --> 00:49:38.900
But.

00:49:39.121 --> 00:49:41.324
I think his model is really cool.

00:49:41.324 --> 00:49:47.132
He does his own books and he does graphic novels occasionally and sometimes he just, you know, now he's doing minor arcana.

00:49:48.693 --> 00:49:50.396
But he works with a lot of other people too.

00:49:50.396 --> 00:49:55.271
So if I could hit some type of stride like that, would be pretty ecstatic.

00:49:55.438 --> 00:49:56.398
Sure.

00:49:56.538 --> 00:49:57.277
Okay.

00:49:57.338 --> 00:49:59.637
So I have, actually, I said I had one final question.

00:49:59.637 --> 00:50:00.538
guess that's okay.

00:50:00.538 --> 00:50:09.838
I'm good question before I have you out of here, before I get you out of here, Jared, you seem like someone who's really got the finger on the pulse when it comes to great media, movies, comics.

00:50:09.838 --> 00:50:14.898
I'm looking at your physical media, I knew, I'm a, I'm a big, like same.

00:50:15.177 --> 00:50:18.277
I have, I have, you know, well over 1200 comics behind me.

00:50:18.277 --> 00:50:23.878
And then I have a whole other collection of movies, well over 800 movies, physical movies.

00:50:23.878 --> 00:50:24.338
Nice.

00:50:24.338 --> 00:50:27.443
So Obviously we're cut from the same cloth in that.

00:50:28.246 --> 00:50:36.175
Could you just sort of really low pressure, just like, are a couple movies, comics, television, podcasts, music, albums?

00:50:36.175 --> 00:50:38.289
Are you big fan of the new Sabrina Carpenter album?

00:50:38.289 --> 00:50:44.585
Like, what are some things that like you've really been enjoying recently that you want to sort of put on people's radar here that I'll listen to this conversation?

00:50:45.077 --> 00:50:47.583
man, I was so high pressure.

00:50:47.898 --> 00:50:49.230
Just first thing that comes to mind.

00:50:49.230 --> 00:50:50.791
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:50:50.851 --> 00:50:53.231
I've been watching the new Alien show and I'm into it.

00:50:53.231 --> 00:50:58.005
I know not everybody feels that way, but I've really been enjoying it.

00:50:58.005 --> 00:51:03.579
Two comics I picked up recently that just have the number one is Escape.

00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:07.050
Yeah, yeah, I really liked that.

00:51:07.050 --> 00:51:08.173
The Dead and Dying.

00:51:08.173 --> 00:51:18.530
Is that Daniel Acuna It's, it's yeah, I mean, it's one of those, one of those books where I saw the team and I was like, you don't even have to give me the pitch.

00:51:18.530 --> 00:51:19.989
Like just throw it in the bag.

00:51:19.989 --> 00:51:21.090
It's fine.

00:51:21.170 --> 00:51:22.349
Um, yeah, right.

00:51:22.349 --> 00:51:26.750
Uh, dead and dying, uh, almost everything dead and dying.

00:51:26.750 --> 00:51:26.909
Yes.

00:51:26.909 --> 00:51:27.670
I really enjoyed that.

00:51:27.670 --> 00:51:29.050
Those are only like one issue out.

00:51:29.050 --> 00:51:32.001
Um, but Brom Bell and Jacob Phillips.

00:51:32.001 --> 00:51:32.342
Yeah.

00:51:32.342 --> 00:51:36.818
oh in terms of music, I am a big music person.

00:51:36.878 --> 00:51:38.717
I have been listening.

00:51:39.737 --> 00:51:41.637
Oh man, I have a Bayside shirt on.

00:51:41.637 --> 00:51:43.318
I will always represent Bayside.

00:51:43.318 --> 00:51:44.057
love Bayside.

00:51:44.057 --> 00:51:47.157
Um, but I've listened to another band called Grayscale recently.

00:51:47.157 --> 00:51:49.177
Their new record is really good.

00:51:49.177 --> 00:51:53.577
Um, I've been listening to a pop band called, I think they're pronounced Muna.

00:51:53.577 --> 00:51:55.297
It's like M-U-N-A.

00:51:56.478 --> 00:52:02.438
So I've been into them and, uh, I am, I- She's just always listening to Jimmy World forever.

00:52:02.438 --> 00:52:05.266
that's, that's just always going to be in the road.

00:52:05.266 --> 00:52:07.688
middle is I think the anthem for millennials.

00:52:07.688 --> 00:52:09.068
So think we're around the same age.

00:52:09.068 --> 00:52:18.135
When I think of the middle, I immediately think like, uh what's the Billy Joel song from the 80s where it's like, we didn't start the fire, that whole song.

00:52:18.135 --> 00:52:24.559
The middle is the millennial song where like, we're just here doing our best.

00:52:24.559 --> 00:52:26.340
So I totally agree, Jimmy World.

00:52:26.340 --> 00:52:27.820
It's just an anthem.

00:52:27.820 --> 00:52:29.641
Every time one their songs come on.

00:52:29.646 --> 00:52:34.612
Yeah, I'm like every record, you know, they're just always, it's always playing at some point.

00:52:34.657 --> 00:52:35.539
Yeah.

00:52:35.800 --> 00:52:41.983
Does it make you jealous at all to know that I'm going to see a day to remember tomorrow live?

00:52:42.344 --> 00:52:43.393
you're going to see data, remember?

00:52:43.393 --> 00:52:46.898
I will tell you that it doesn't make me jealous.

00:52:46.898 --> 00:52:51.021
And here's the reason why, because I've seen them three times.

00:52:51.021 --> 00:52:59.208
And the first time I saw them was like the same year that for those who have heart came out and it was like a two, it was like a 200 cap room.

00:53:01.170 --> 00:53:01.780
Yeah.

00:53:01.780 --> 00:53:07.976
So, and it was just like, and that was like, I had listened to them a little bit, but that was the first time that I really saw them.

00:53:08.197 --> 00:53:10.788
And it was just like, Insane.

00:53:10.788 --> 00:53:14.681
like a lot of punk and hardcore and that show was very, very memorable.

00:53:14.681 --> 00:53:20.105
And it was also very much one of those things that I look back and I'm like, wow, nobody's going to see that band that way ever again.

00:53:20.105 --> 00:53:21.201
But, but it'll be fun.

00:53:21.201 --> 00:53:22.545
I'm sure you'll have a good time.

00:53:22.574 --> 00:53:27.634
I was sort of halfway waiting for you to be like, I mean, I saw them when they sucked, you're not.

00:53:27.634 --> 00:53:28.494
No, no, no.

00:53:28.494 --> 00:53:30.518
You've seen them live many times, it sounds like.

00:53:30.518 --> 00:53:32.083
Yeah, yeah, a times.

00:53:32.083 --> 00:53:35.818
I did want to go, they were touring with August Brunsrad and I didn't go, but I should have.

00:53:35.818 --> 00:53:37.501
I don't know who they're touring with now.

00:53:37.663 --> 00:53:47.690
The opener is Yellow Card, which funny enough, Yellow Card has a very special place in my heart because Ocean Avenue was the first album I ever bought with my own money.

00:53:48.264 --> 00:53:48.695
yeah?

00:53:48.695 --> 00:53:51.782
I'm not gonna tell you my first album is way more embarrassing than that.

00:53:55.244 --> 00:53:58.436
Okay, Comic Book Podcast is probably the only place I can get away with it.

00:53:58.436 --> 00:54:02.099
Especially because now I'm like a very pretentious punk emo kid.

00:54:02.099 --> 00:54:09.235
But the first record I ever bought with my own money was the soundtrack to the Animaniacs TV show.

00:54:09.326 --> 00:54:09.766
Nice.

00:54:09.766 --> 00:54:10.885
I love that.

00:54:10.885 --> 00:54:11.525
That's funny.

00:54:11.525 --> 00:54:12.485
That's interesting too.

00:54:12.485 --> 00:54:13.085
I just hit my mic.

00:54:13.085 --> 00:54:16.666
That's interesting that you had the soundtrack to the Animaniacs.

00:54:17.005 --> 00:54:17.885
I don't know.

00:54:17.885 --> 00:54:18.666
Wow.

00:54:18.806 --> 00:54:32.485
For everyone at home that maybe doesn't know what the Animaniacs are, there was a Fox Kids block of like Animaniacs and Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon and Freakazoid.

00:54:32.646 --> 00:54:33.385
Freakazoid.

00:54:33.385 --> 00:54:34.186
Exactly.

00:54:34.186 --> 00:54:36.505
Static Shock, Batman Beyond.

00:54:36.590 --> 00:54:39.581
Static Shock and Batman Beyond, like, holy crap.

00:54:39.581 --> 00:54:49.581
mean, obviously Batman the animated series and Spider-Man and X-Men, but I feel like Batman Beyond and Static Shock, especially Static Shock, like, I don't know what it was with that show, but I was loving it.

00:54:49.581 --> 00:54:55.461
Yeah, it was a time that I want to go to again.

00:54:55.461 --> 00:55:06.581
There's this capture in a bottle, know, Saturday morning at 9, 15 in the morning and I'm like 14 and God, just incredible.

00:55:06.581 --> 00:55:07.630
Yeah, exactly.

00:55:07.630 --> 00:55:10.800
ah But I would not recommend the Animaniacs record.

00:55:10.800 --> 00:55:12.284
I'm not like, spin this.

00:55:12.284 --> 00:55:17.137
ah I need the Mondo oh That's right.

00:55:17.137 --> 00:55:18.514
With the screen printed cover.

00:55:18.514 --> 00:55:18.882
That's right.

00:55:18.882 --> 00:55:20.867
And the like variant on the vinyl.

00:55:20.867 --> 00:55:21.780
Yes, exactly.

00:55:21.780 --> 00:55:22.876
Glitter something.

00:55:22.876 --> 00:55:23.367
sure.

00:55:23.367 --> 00:55:30.161
Yeah, yeah, it's got a very special pressing that 70 were only made but Jared my gosh, what a pleasure to have you here on the show.

00:55:30.161 --> 00:55:31.711
Yeah, thank you.

00:55:31.711 --> 00:55:44.628
Just would love to get you back on the show at some point down the road when you're a three time Eisner winner and you're doing book with Greg Smallwood, you know, you're doing something I don't know like, well, real quick, it just last thing.

00:55:44.628 --> 00:55:45.889
Do you have any interest?

00:55:45.889 --> 00:55:47.032
I know it's a stupid question as well.

00:55:47.032 --> 00:55:48.891
But like, do you have any interest for eventually working for the big two?

00:55:48.891 --> 00:55:50.721
Are you like Indie all the way, man.

00:55:50.721 --> 00:55:53.981
I'm a purist, loving rockets, you know, all that shit.

00:55:54.918 --> 00:55:58.057
But I have two Spider-Man tattoos and an X-Men tattoo.

00:55:58.057 --> 00:56:01.744
I am more than happy to write and read superhero comics.

00:56:01.744 --> 00:56:08.188
um It is funny going to SPX as a tie back conversation because it is a really weird mix of both.

00:56:08.188 --> 00:56:10.621
Some people are like, I don't read any comics.

00:56:10.621 --> 00:56:11.581
I just buy books.

00:56:11.581 --> 00:56:12.693
And I'm like, okay.

00:56:12.693 --> 00:56:20.398
And then there's a lot of people who are like, we're just, you know, talking about the latest run of Amazing Spider-Man or the new DC event or whatever.

00:56:20.398 --> 00:56:21.780
So yeah, I would definitely do that.

00:56:21.780 --> 00:56:24.021
And I think I will like pass out if it's...

00:56:24.021 --> 00:56:26.672
If I ever write anything with Greg small, we'll just put that out there.

00:56:26.672 --> 00:56:29.271
Cause that dude is killer.

00:56:29.271 --> 00:56:29.782
Yeah.

00:56:29.782 --> 00:56:47.494
Well, I'll tell you, two of my good friends that were former podcasters, I think they still kind of do it sometimes, but there was a time where, you know, Griffin, Griffin Sheridan and Ethan Parker were just, you know, lowly podcasters for, um you know, just, just sort of doing like a Spider-Man podcast.

00:56:47.494 --> 00:56:50.780
And now they're writing Spider-Man and they're writing Godzilla and all these things.

00:56:50.780 --> 00:56:51.557
Yeah, that's sick.

00:56:51.557 --> 00:56:52.358
So it can happen.

00:56:52.358 --> 00:56:55.041
You know, it's one of those things that it just, it can happen like that.

00:56:55.041 --> 00:57:03.048
but again, you know, Jared, I just want to remind all the listeners here, Bridge Planet 9, that'll be available at your local comic shop on October 21st.

00:57:03.048 --> 00:57:07.766
So you can still pre-order it, get that ready for your pull box when it eventually comes out.

00:57:07.766 --> 00:57:20.619
I'll also have links in the show notes to Jared's website for that with the Top Cal website, but also to his One Shot Western Lost Stars, which I had a chance to read and really enjoyed, and is also his other graphic novel, Heavy Kill.

00:57:20.619 --> 00:57:26.487
So Jared, before I let you go, um is there anything that I missed, any socials?

00:57:26.487 --> 00:57:34.402
that you want folks to know about or possibly, mean, I'm not trying to mind you for any information, but is there any projects that you want to tease before I let you go?

00:57:34.402 --> 00:58:03.335
Projects to tease really working on another book another graphic novels probably next thing that's gonna happen but still still in progress uh in terms of social media you can definitely find me on Instagram it's just Jared underscore throne my last name is pretty Google a bowl so I'm pretty easy to find but uh yeah go buy first planet 9 and uh I'll be at newer comic-con oh yeah I'll be there cool I'll be at the IDW table If people don't know, IDW owns Top Shelf.

00:58:03.335 --> 00:58:06.139
So I'll be at that table on Sunday doing the signing.

00:58:06.139 --> 00:58:14.030
ah But yeah, if you're there, come say hi and buy the book and send me Instagram comics about how much you like or dislike it.

00:58:14.030 --> 00:58:17.215
Tell us how much you love the Animaniacs and G12.

00:58:17.684 --> 00:58:20.016
Hit me up with your favorite Animaniacs track.

00:58:20.302 --> 00:58:22.025
All right, Jared, what a pleasure again.

00:58:22.025 --> 00:58:28.429
Love to have you back on the show at some point, but honestly, until I see you New York Comic Con here in a couple of weeks, ah we'll talk to you soon.

00:58:28.494 --> 00:58:30.085
Cool, thank you so much.